Accidents and Disasters:
Does God Care?

Lambert Dolphin

God and "Accidents"

Almost every one of us, especially when we are young, thinks
himself especially privileged--a favorite child of God exempted
from trouble---while others are not. The daily news can't help
but cause us some distress--though we tend to insulate
ourselves from the sufferings of others, or to try to forget as
soon as possible the terrible things that happen to others. Yet
eventually each of us must cope with our own mortality as well
as automobile or plane crashes, family tragedies, the death of
our parents, friends, or perhaps even our own children. There
are very real possibilities of a nuclear war, or a devastating
earthquake, flood, or hurricane affecting us as well as our neighbors.
Cancer may strike us whether we are young or old, or an unexpected,
or we may fall victim to an uninvited auto accident which was
the other driver's fault.

A jet aircraft fully loaded with neatly 300 men, women and
children plunges into the ocean minutes after takeoff. All on
board are lost. A wide range of people were on board. There were
people from half a dozen nations, there were many children. A
good number were Christians--most of them had prayed for a safe
journey moments before takeoff.

With almost no warning a violent tornado touches down and plows
a narrow path of total destruction for perhaps 30 miles. Some
homes are totally destroyed and many occupants are killed. Houses
on either side may be left untouched. Destruction may well have
been many millions of dollars. Good Christian families perished
as did agnostics and unbelievers, ordinary citizens and town drunks.
Why did our son die in war as a mere youth while the young soldier
from down the street was allowed to a live to ripe old age?

What went wrong? Where was God when this happened? Did He lose
control? Was God powerless to intervene?

During World War II German bombs pummeled London night after
night for several years, killing many thousands. Most of the people
who died were innocent civilians, many were strong Christians.
Why were their lives cut suddenly short for no good reason?

According to the Duxfords library, the Blitz was in three
main phases. The figures for the first part of August 1940 to
May 10th 1941--and not including the Baedeker raids nor the mini
blitz--were: For London: Casualties were: 43,000 Killed, 51,000
Seriously injured, 88,000 Slightly injured. Pre-war estimates
had calculated that 600,000 would be the possible number of people
killed and 1,200,000 would be injured. Again pre-war estimates
had suggested 700 tons of bombs / day from the combined bomber
forces but this was wildly inaccurate and it was in fact closer
to 400 tons of bombs/day. By the end of the first phase it was
estimated that 18,000 tons of bombs had fallen on London, thus
there was to be five casualties for every ton of bombs that fell
on London. To get an exact figure as to how many tons fell is
almost impossible. What was the tonnage that each aircraft carried.
What type of bombs were they carrying. How many aircraft failed
to jettison or drop their bombs on targets. How many Messerschmitt
Bf109 and Bf110 aircraft were carrying bomb loads.

In 1755 a great earthquake off the coast of Portugal caused
a tsunami and fire in Lisbon, Portugal

"In all more than 60,000 people died in the disaster
in Lisbon alone. Thousands more died in other areas. The quake
was felt throughout Western Europe and Northwestern Africa. Many
people thought that the quake was a result of an angry God responding
to Lisbon's "sinful" ways. However, they were hard
put to explain why one city was destroyed while others, just
as "sinful" were spared. There were some, however,
who studied the earthquake objectively, observing the direction
of the shocks, sequence of events and other details to try to
understand scientifically what was going on. In the end, the
scope of the destruction was such that the country turned its
attention to rebuilding Lisbon. Although nobody could replace
what had been lost, the city rose again in beauty and grandeur."
(http://www.olympus.net/personal/gofamily/quake/famous/lisbon.html)

Was God so busy with other affairs that He overlooked these
awful tragedies? Why is He so uninvolved, so seemingly remote
and uncaring? Does He lack the power or motivation to prevent
disasters? Is He arbitrary and cruel? Do some things get out of
even His control?

A recent issue of National Geographic contains vivid pictures
of the sudden destruction of Pompeii, a reminder that we easily
forget the disasters that have already overtaken whole cities
in earth's history. Many scoff at the flood of Noah, though Jesus
Himself said that it had occurred in human history, wiping up
millions if not billions of human beings in a flash--all except
for eight persons. How do we know we won't "die before our
time"--according to the plan and "providence" of
God?

How do we handle the news that a close young friend or relative
has just been killed in an terrible accident, or taken from us
by a sudden illness---just when everything seemed all set up for
their happiness and well-being and a fulfilling earthly existence?
The athlete just starting his college career, well-liked an popular,
a gifted student and a new Christian? Dead at 19 from a sudden
infection, ordinarily one easy to cure. A married man suddenly
killed in a plane crash leaving a young wife and four small children,
all believers in Jesus with nothing out of order in their lives
and marriage? Why? Why, O God?

Then there are the dirty old men, crooks, politicians, or atheistic
scientists and professors who live to be 90, apparently happy
and unjudged, destroying people right and life with their corrupt
ideologies and anti-God propaganda. In our world all sorts of
criminals go scott-free or suffer little for the grievous hurts
they cause others. Where do you find an honest lawyer, a fair
judge and an impartial jury? Who defends the widow and protects
the young?

By human standards life is unfair and God is silent just when
we desperately need to hear His explanation for disasters which
may affect us the rest of our lives. Where is justice and where
can we find peace, hope, and content in such an uncertain and
unjust world?

We live in a fallen world. Most of the inhabitants of our world
are living life-styles of indifference to the design and plan
and wishes of their Creator. In such a world any of us can be
victims as well as perpetrators of wrong. In such a world the
forces of nature can become unbalanced by human activity which
ignores God. It is very difficult to trace cause and effect in
many events which happen to us, apparently out of nowhere, for
no discernible reason.

For centuries, ship owners and maritime insurance firms have
reserved a category of marine disasters called "Acts of God,"
to take into account that there are many situations where only
God knows why something bad happened to their ship at sea.

God DOES know. He is responsible for everything that happens
on earth and in heaven. However, He does not give briefings and
usually does not explain Himself--until we meet Him in the next
life. Our comfort in the here-and-now comes from knowing the Lord
personally, from appreciating His character in day to day experience.

The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful
and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love
and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving
iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means
clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the
children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth
generation. (Exodus 34:6, 7)

"...we are not living in a world where we can always
expect perfection; that God does not try to operate the world
in such a way that everything works out beautifully. We are living
in a fallen world. From Genesis to Revelation, the Scriptures
declare that we are living in a broken world, a fragmented world,
a world which is not what it once was and is not what it shall
be. For the present we are afflicted with hurts and damage and
injuries and difficulties and hardships. That is part of life
today, and it is all a result of the introduction of the principle
of human evil, of sin, into human life.

The Scriptures confirm that everybody is affected by this
principle of human evil. Many of us think we have escaped it
because we were not born with evident handicaps. But in fact
we all have handicaps. Someone has well said, "When you
look at a beautiful athlete" (such as we will be seeing
in the Olympic Games very shortly -- these fine, handsome, well-coordinated
young men and women), "what you are looking at is the ruin
of an Adam." Everywhere humanity reflects the weakness of
the fall. This is why our minds cannot operate as they should.
I tried to quote a poem in the early service and I could not
think of the first line. It just fled from me. That shows how
sin has attacked me. And you are no better off!

But Jesus makes clear that suffering is not always directly
traceable to personal sin. Sometimes it is! There are texts in
Scripture that clearly indicate that people are hurting and suffering
and physically depraved and deprived because of their own evil
ways. Ray C. Stedman, God's
Loving Word: Expository Studies in the Gospel of John.

The Example of Job's Suffering

The book of Job is the oldest book in the Bible and is about
a very godly patriarch who lived in what is now the country of
Jordan. When we first meet Job he is a wealthy, prosperous and
a man of impeccable moral character.

There was a man in the land of Uz, whose
name was Job; and that man was blameless and upright, one who
feared God, and turned away from evil. There were born to him
seven sons and three daughters. He had seven thousand sheep,
three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred
she-asses, and very many servants; so that this man was the greatest
of all the people of the east. His sons used to go and hold a
feast in the house of each on his day; and they would send and
invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. And when
the days of the feast had run their course, Job would send and
sanctify them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer
burnt offerings according to the number of them all; for Job
said, "It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God
in their hearts." Thus Job did continually. (Job 1:1-5)

As the story unfolds we find that God allows Satan to test
Job to extreme limits:

And the LORD said to Satan, "Behold,
all that he has is in your power; only upon himself do not put
forth your hand." So Satan went forth from the presence
of the LORD. Now there was a day when his sons and daughters
were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house;
and there came a messenger to Job, and said, "The oxen were
plowing and the asses feeding beside them; and the Sabeans fell
upon them and took them, and slew the servants with the edge
of the sword; and I alone have escaped to tell you." While
he was yet speaking, there came another, and said, "The
fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the
servants, and consumed them; and I alone have escaped to tell
you." While he was yet speaking, there came another, and
said, "The Chaldeans formed three companies, and made a
raid upon the camels and took them, and slew the servants with
the edge of the sword; and I alone have escaped to tell you."
While he was yet speaking, there came another, and said, "Your
sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest
brother's house; and behold, a great wind came across the wilderness,
and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the
young people, and they are dead; and I alone have escaped to
tell you." Then Job arose, and rent his robe, and shaved
his head, and fell upon the ground, and worshiped. And he said,
"Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return;
the LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name
of the LORD." In all this Job did not sin or charge God
with wrong.

Again there was a day when the sons of
God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also
came among them to present himself before the LORD. And the LORD
said to Satan, "Whence have you come?" Satan answered
the LORD, "From going to and fro on the earth, and from
walking up and down on it." And the LORD said to Satan,
"Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none
like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears
God and turns away from evil? He still holds fast his integrity,
although you moved me against him, to destroy him without cause."
Then Satan answered the LORD, "Skin for skin! All that a
man has he will give for his life. But put forth thy hand now,
and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy
face." And the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, he is in
your power; only spare his life." So Satan went forth from
the presence of the LORD, and afflicted Job with loathsome sores
from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. And he took
a potsherd with which to scrape himself, and sat among the ashes.
Then his wife said to him, "Do you still hold fast your
integrity? Curse God, and die." But he said to her, "You
speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive
good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?"
In all this Job did not sin with his lips. (Job 1:12-2:10)

Job had three close friends who were greatly concerned for
Job and his family. These friends were not ignorant of God, but
they were also believers as Job was.

Now when Job's three friends heard of all
this evil that had come upon him, they came each from his own
place, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the
Naamathite. They made an appointment together to come to condole
with him and comfort him. And when they saw him from afar, they
did not recognize him; and they raised their voices and wept;
and they rent their robes and sprinkled dust upon their heads
toward heaven. And they sat with him on the ground seven days
and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw
that his suffering was very great. (Job 2:11-13)

What follows in the book of Job are long conversations between
Job and this three friends. In turn each of these friends tells
Job that the reason for his calamity is related to sin in Job's
life. Although Job's friends care for their friend, their answers
are incorrect. God Himself makes it known that Job is (and was
all along) blameless and righteous before Him. The LORD finally
tells specifically of His displeasure at the inappropriate advice
Job was given by his well-meaning friends.

After the LORD had spoken these words to
Job, the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite: "My wrath
is kindled against you and against your two friends; for you
have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.
Now therefore take seven bulls and seven rams, and go to my servant
Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and my servant
Job shall pray for you, for I will accept his prayer not to deal
with you according to your folly; for you have not spoken of
me what is right, as my servant Job has." So Eliphaz the
Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went
and did what the LORD had told them; and the LORD accepted Job's
prayer. And the LORD restored the fortunes of Job, when he had
prayed for his friends; and the LORD gave Job twice as much as
he had before. Then came to him all his brothers and sisters
and all who had known him before, and ate bread with him in his
house; and they showed him sympathy and comforted him for all
the evil that the LORD had brought upon him; and each of them
gave him a piece of money and a ring of gold. And the LORD blessed
the latter days of Job more than his beginning; and he had fourteen
thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen,
and a thousand she-asses. He had also seven sons and three daughters.
And he called the name of the first Jemimah; and the name of
the second Keziah; and the name of the third Keren-happuch. And
in all the land there were no women so fair as Job's daughters;
and their father gave them inheritance among their brothers.
And after this Job lived a hundred and forty years, and saw his
sons, and his sons' sons, four generations. And Job died, an
old man, and full of days. (Job 42:7-17)

The reality of the story of Job is that God allowed Job's suffering
as a test and as a means of deepening Job's character and relationship
with God. There was no relationship between Job's suffering and
his standing before God and his moral behavior. He was blameless
from start to finish. This example tells us that we can easily
rush to unwarranted conclusions when adversity happens to an individual
or a group of people.

Sometimes God does speak specifically about a coming disaster
which will be a judgment on His people, or one of His enemies.
An example of this kind of relatively rare situation would be
the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BC. The
fact that this would happen was the subject of many warnings from
the prophets for at least 150 years ahead of time. The Book of
Nahum is a second example: the prophet clearly warns Ninevah that
judgment is about to fall on the Assyrians after a long season
of God's grace which began when Jonah preached there and the king
and people repented.

However, unless God directly tells us that an accident, sickness,
or a financial setback in the life of an individual, or that a
hurricane, earthquake, flood, plague, or war was sent to a nation
by God as a judgment for sin, we are presumptuous to say that
any disaster has a direct causal connection to a nations' behavior.

Actually Jesus Himself did comment on the kinds of disasters
and accidents and tragedies that befall us in life. He gave a
startling answer to the question "Why did God allow such
a terrible thing to happen?"

Luke 13 gives the account. Jesus was asked about a tragedy
in the temple in Jerusalem when Pilate had brutally killed some
devout Jewish worshipers at the time of the temple daily sacrifice,
mingling their blood with that of the sacrificed animals:

"...Do you think that these Galileans
were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered
thus? I tell you, No; but unless you repent you will all likewise
perish. Or those eighteen upon whom the tower (under construction) in Siloam fell, and killed
them all, do you think they were worse offenders than all the
others who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, No; but unless you
repent you will all likewise perish." (Luke 13:1-5)

The answer Jesus gave is very surprising. Jesus did not apologize
for either incident. God had not lost control. Neither did He
assign any blame. In a fallen world, innocent people suffer and
die. There is no safe place in this present life. There are no
guarantees. Jesus does not promise His followers good health,
a long life, and material riches. It is more likely Christians
will find trouble, adversity, opposition, and trials, but they
will inherit the kingdom of God. The only sure refuge is one's
relationship with God. Jesus said the most important thing in
life was to repent--that is, to be in a right relationship with
God at all times.

"I tell you, my friends, do not fear
those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they
can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after
he has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I tell you,
fear him! Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not
one of them is forgotten before God. Why, even the hairs of your
head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many
sparrows. "And I tell you, every one who acknowledges me
before men, the Son of man also will acknowledge before the angels
of God; but he who denies me before men will be denied before
the angels of God. And every one who speaks a word against the
Son of man will be forgiven; but he who blasphemes against the
Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. And when they bring you before
the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be
anxious how or what you are to answer or what you are to say;
for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you
ought to say..."

And he told them a parable, saying, "The
land of a rich man brought forth plentifully; and he thought
to himself, `What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my
crops?' And he said, `I will do this: I will pull down my barns,
and build larger ones; and there I will store all my grain and
my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods
laid up for many years; take your ease, eat, drink, be merry.'
But God said to him, `Fool! This night your soul is required
of you; and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?'
So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward
God."

And he said to his disciples, "Therefore
I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall
eat, nor about your body, what you shall put on. For life is
more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the
ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse
nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are
you than the birds! And which of you by being anxious can add
a cubit to his span of life? If then you are not able to do as
small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? Consider
the lilies, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin; yet I
tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like
one of these. But if God so clothes the grass which is alive
in the field today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how
much more will he clothe you, O men of little faith! And do not
seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be of
anxious mind. For all the nations of the world seek these things;
and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek his kingdom,
and these things shall be yours as well. "Fear not, little
flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the
kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give alms; provide yourselves
with purses that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens
that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys.
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. (Luke
12:2-34)

The Hebrew (Old Testament) word for repentance (nacham)
means essentially to change one's life style, to turn and go in
a different direction. The root means "comfort" suggesting
that positive benefits will follow a change of attitude or disposition
which brings one into harmony with the compassion and mercy of
God. If one is a liar, he is to stop lying; if guilty of stealing,
he is to make restitution; if in need of forgiveness, he is to
seek forgiveness. And, he is to be accountable to others for his
actions. In the Old Testament God Himself is said to repent by
often delaying judgment when His people respond to His pleas for
reform. The New Testament Greek word (metanoeo) for repentance
means "to have a different mind"---that is, to see things
in a different light. Of course, when we are truly enlightened,
our behavior changes for the better. Repentance means radical
change---in thought, word and deed---in anyone who comes to know
God.

Disasters can happen to individuals or entire societies because
of our general and individual alienation from God. If all life,
health, blessings, and love come from God as the Source, and we
have distanced ourselves from that Source how can we expect to
avoid certain natural consequences that must follow? If we deny
God's protection and help by our actions that effectively shut
Him out of our lives, why should we complain when thieves break
in to rob and to destroy?

Neither are we the good, deserving people we think we are.
Not a single one of us deserves to be rescued; not one of us is
worthy because of meritorious performance. Were God just, without
being merciful, all of us would be lost. That He rescues any at
all is the amazing thing. In fact, all of Planet Earth is headed
for near self-destruction according to the Bible. The coming dark
time of trouble on earth spoken of by the Hebrew prophets (including
Jesus the Chief Prophet of both Israel and the Church) will be,
at the same time, the dawning of a new golden age for mankind.
But the words of Jesus are binding on all men: "...unless
you repent, you will all likewise perish." (Luke 13:5) Because
God loves us all, there is hope. The future of mankind is to be
nothing short of paradise regained. But it is possible to be left
out of God's plan altogether, and to perish not just temporally,
but also eternally.

In the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24), Jesus spoke to four of
his disciples about the time period between His two advents. He
spoke of future wars and rumors of wars, of famines, earthquakes
and natural disasters. He said that all these were only the beginning
of the birth pangs of the end of the age. The actual birth pangs
are yet to begin. These events in themselves were not signs of
the end of the age but signs of the entire age! (For example,
earthquakes are not on the increase as some have supposed. See
Earthquakes and
the Bible.) For a discussion of this widely misunderstood
passage of Scripture see Signs
of the End or Signs of the Times?

The Human Condition and a Broken Universe

According to the Bible we do not live in a meaningless universe
driven by blind forces, by mere probability without an underlying
guiding Hand. God has not lost control of any details nor is the
devil winning, as some suppose. There are, in fact, no accidents
in the universe! Neither is God lacking in compassion, love and
mercy towards all His creatures.

Paul in Romans tells us that the universe has been damaged
and is decaying and dying all around us. This is connected both
with the Fall of man (Genesis 3), and also with a great rebellion
among a large group of the angels who assist God in the government
of the forces of nature and of the nations.

For the creation waits with eager longing
for the revealing of the sons of God; for the creation was subjected
to futility, not of its own will but by the will of him who subjected
it in hope; because the creation itself will be set free from
its bondage to decay and obtain the glorious liberty of the children
of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning in
travail together until now; and not only the creation, but we
ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly
as we wait for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.
(Romans 8:19-23)

It is not pleasant news for us, at first, to learn about the
human condition from the Bible, for man is "fallen,"
and in the eyes of a Holy God, the fall was into a state of total
depravity. This is not to say that man, the bearer of God's image
and likeness, is without worth, for he has infinite worth as the
object of God's mercy and love. Yet the prophet Jeremiah said
about the human condition,

"The heart is deceitful above all
things, and desperately corrupt; who can understand it?"
(Jeremiah 17:9)

A good deal of what is wrong in the world has to do with ourselves.
Part of the problem is our own blindness to our moral condition
and to our need for deliverance and healing. We are house guests
on Someone else's planet. The Owner of all things has stepped
out of town for a short time, but He will be back shortly and
demand an accounting of everyone. The world is not ours to do
with as we please. Our bodies don't belong to us either. The universe
was created through Jesus but also for Him (Col. 1:16,
Ephesians 1:9,10). We are also not God's friends but His enemies!
We are desperately sinful and self-centered and we are powerless
to save ourselves. Were it not for God's initiative in seeking
us out we would all be lost,

"And you he made alive, when you were
dead through the trespasses and sins in which you once walked,
following the course of this world, following the prince of the
power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons
of disobedience. Among these we all once lived in the passions
of our flesh, following the desires of body and mind, and so
we were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which
he loved us, even when we were dead through our trespasses, made
us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
and raised us up with him, and made us sit with him in the heavenly
places in Christ Jesus, that in the coming ages he might show
the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in
Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith;
and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God--not because
of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand,
that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:1-10)

Ray C. Stedman writes concerning the human situation. He comments
on the passage above as follows,

The biblical answer is that human life is in the grip of an
alien foe, a destroyer, and that his death grip is broken only
when Jesus sets up His inner kingdom in a man's heart. Because
God is holy, which implies not only purity but also wholeness,
only a suitable blood sacrifice makes possible the building of
a bridge from God to fallen man. That Jesus was an important
historical figure and teacher few deny. That He is alive and
able to heal can be discovered only by calling on Him for help.
This simple and humbling step has never been known to leave the
seeker unrewarded---that is the simple testimony of millions
of believers over thousands of years of history...

I don't think any of us has any idea of what life would be
like if God suddenly ceased his redemptive processes among us.
I am sure that within hours there would be mass suicides all
over the earth, because every bit of glory would be removed from
life, every bit of joy, every bit of gladness, all those moments
that we delight in when the family gathers around and gives us
a sense of security, of warmth and joy together. All this would
be gone. For these blessings come from God's activity among men,
from God at work redeeming, reaching out, seeking to arrest the
attention of men and women and boys and girls all over the earth.
If all that suddenly ceased, life would become incredibly dull
and drab and dreary.

Now, life teaches us that there are times when God does temporarily
withdraw his blessing from life and his goodness from us, and
invariably life then turns impossible to live. I was in Newport
Beach this week and a woman there was telling me about her neighbor
who came across the street one day to talk with her. He was in
utter despair, and he sat there with his head in his hands and
a cup of coffee steaming untouched in front of him. And he cried
out in an agony of spirit, "God, but I'm bored!" That
is the way life is for so many. Life is utterly dull, drab, lonely,
and miserable.

Why is that? Well, the apostle Paul tells us that this is
the result of the condition into which we are born. And the only
thing which alleviates it is the mercy and the grace of God.
It would always be that way---every moment of life would be that
way--- were it not for God's goodness poured out upon us, to
the just and the unjust alike, in his attempt to reach us and
arrest us. So these words come through to us with great meaning:
"But God..."

The Apostle is very careful to inform us immediately of what
it is that moves God to act, and he focuses on that: "But
God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he
loved us, even when we were dead through our trespasses..."
That was the condition in which we were found. But God began
to move. What moved him? The first thing, the Apostle says, is
his mercy...

And there is a difference between mercy and grace. It is true
that God's grace reaches out to man also, but it does so for
a different reason than his mercy does. I wonder if you know
the difference? It is the guilt of man which draws forth the
grace of God. When God looks at us and sees us as guilty---as
actually having made choices and done things which were deliberately
wrong when we knew them to be wrong---it calls forth his compassion,
expressed in grace. Even though we deserve it, he still doesn't
want to leave us in our guilt. So his grace is aroused and he
reaches out to find a way to set aside the demands of law and
to relieve us from the due punishment of our guilt and to set
us free. And he has done that. It is the grace of God which has
dealt with our guilt.

But it is our misery which calls forth his mercy. You parents
know how this is. If you have a child who is suffering from a
severe cold---his throat is sore, his eyes are watering, his
nose is running and all stuffed up so that he can hardly breathe,
he is aching in every joint, and he is miserable and all he can
do is throw his arms around your neck and cry---what does that
do to you as a parent? Why, it awakens your pity, and you reach
out and try to relieve this condition in some way if you possibly
can, because his misery has called forth your mercy. That is
what Paul says has awakened the mercy of God---the misery of
man.

[The Apostle] tells us that, as a race, we are dead in a helpless,
impotent condition. We are corrupt, decaying, and life is on
a downward slant. He reminds us that we are molded by the world
around us, we are gripped by this passion for conformity, and
we find it very difficult to break away from the established
trend. We don't want to be different, we are forced to conform
in attitudes, in ways of reacting mentally, as well as in clothing
and standard of living. And this holds us in bondage. We can't
be the independent people we would like to be.

And further, you remember, we are controlled by Satan. There
is a spirit which works in us, Paul says, which prompts us to
disobey. Our first reaction to any demand almost invariably is
one of belligerence. "Who gave you the right to tell me
what to do? Why should I do this?" We come at life with
a chip on our shoulder and we are immediately defensive or belligerent.
We learn to cover it over, we learn to smile and to be sweet,
but inwardly we feel resentment at having to conform to someone
else's desires . That is the spirit of disobedience which is
constantly at work in humanity, making us strike out at one another
and injure each other.

Finally, there is that whole realm of life which the Apostle
gathers up in the phrase "fulfilling the lusts of the flesh"---these
impulsive urges within us which lead us to desire certain things,
or to hold certain attitudes, or to insist upon certain modes
of action. We don't stop to reason them out. If we did we would
see that they are wrong. But we rationalize them, we find excuses
for them, and when our mind is able to invent a reason we act
on it. The result, again, is that we injure each other and we
destroy peace in a household, or in a family, or a company, or
a nation. And this creates the heartache, the despair, the rejection,
the discontent, the disillusionment, the sense of disenchantment,
the boredom, the routine, the monotony, the frustration of life.
That is why we spend so much of our time in this condition---the
tragic sense of life.

We are so aware of all this with regard to what others do
to us, and so little aware of how we are doing the same thing
to them. Isn't that amazing? Our image of ourselves is always
so much better than what we actually are. It is so easy to forget
the nasty little things we say, the sharp and caustic remarks
we make, and the irritated attitudes we come to breakfast with.
After awhile we forget about all of these, and as we look at
ourselves we see what we love to call "beautiful people"
with just a slight taint here or there that a good resolution
would clear up. God doesn't see us that way. But we see ourselves
that way and we can't understand, then, why life doesn't smooth
out, why there is so much frustration and boredom in our experience,
why we are always being so injured and hurt and cut.

But God sees all this realistically and he says, "That
is what is making you miserable." This kind of condition
is everywhere. It is shared with the rest of mankind. God sees
the misery and heartache caused by it---the tears, the disappointment,
the crushing sense of frustration, of weakness, of inadequacy.
He sees the misery, the abject misery of human life. And more
and more this is becoming apparent to us as well, isn't it? But
this is what calls forth God's mercy. It awakens his love to
reach out to us. He wants to do something to relieve the misery
of man. That is what Paul says is happening...

Paul is saying, "God loved us and he did something about
it. He came here." He is not a God of indifference or unconcern.
He was touched with our misery and he came and he wept and he
suffered. He became the poorest of the poor, he felt the pinch
of poverty. He was rejected, he felt hurt, he was frightened,
he felt all the trials which come into our lives. And when he
had fully identified himself with us he went out and, in the
indescribable anguish and pain of the cross, for no reason in
himself, he bore our sins. Of course, Paul doesn't mention that
specifically at this point; it comes in later in the epistle.
But it is the background, the necessary groundwork, for what
follows here. It is gathered up in the great idea of the love
of God, reaching out to us. And he did it, says the Apostle,
when there was nothing in us which could help him in the least
degree, when we were dead in our trespasses. We have done nothing
to break through this pattern of human misery. I hope we all
understand that very plainly. This is the biblical view of life,
and it is accurate---it fits history. This is the reason why
you can go back through history and read about all the struggles
of men in the past---in the Middle Ages, at the time of our Lord,
in the Golden Age of Greece, back in the Persian Empire, as far
back in history as you can go---and you will find that men and
women then were struggling with exactly the same problems and
feeling the same hurts and the same abject miseries, and were
living in a dull, gray world governed by human hatred and fratricide
and war, all exactly the same, exactly the same, as today.

We hear the prophets of our day who say that man has learned
so much, that we have had an explosion of knowledge, that we
now have technological possibilities which men never even dreamed
of before, and that with all this vast knowledge we ought to
be able to solve the problems of life much more readily. But
the truth is that we have not learned one thing about relieving
human misery and hurt. Our cities today are largely great pools
of human misery, stirring with hatred and strife, and ready to
break out in riot and revolution at a moment's notice. That is
how much all the knowledge that humans have gathered through
the centuries has meant in relieving, in actually breaking through
this human condition.

When we were dead, when we were absolutely hopeless, then
God did something. This is what the Apostle wants us to see.
God took action. God broke through. And what he accomplished
did break the spell of evil, and began to set us free. All of
this, as you know, becomes available to us when we believe in
Jesus Christ. [From a sermon by Ray C. Stedman, "But
God..." Discovery Publishing Catalog No. 3009, Ephesians
2:4-6]

Come to God for Help in Time of Need!

The very special news about God is His willingness to walk
through our trials in life--with us. This is the secret of Psalm
77 which Ray Stedman unfolds in his wonderful study.

Psalm 77

1 I cry aloud to God, aloud
to God, that he may hear me.
2 In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord;
in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying; my soul
refuses to be comforted.
3 I think of God, and I moan; I meditate, and my spirit faints.
[Selah]

4 Thou dost hold my eyelids from closing; I am so troubled that
I cannot speak.
5 I consider the days of old, I remember the years long ago.
6 I commune with my heart in the night; I meditate and search
my spirit:
7 "Will the Lord spurn forever, and never again be favorable?
8 Has his steadfast love forever ceased? Are his promises at an
end for all time?
9 Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he in anger shut up his
compassion?" [Selah]

10 And I say, "It is my grief that the right hand of the
Most High has changed."
11 I will call to mind the deeds of the LORD; yea, I will remember
thy wonders of old.
12 I will meditate on all thy work, and muse on thy mighty deeds.
13 Thy way, O God, is holy. What god is great like our God?
14 Thou art the God who workest wonders, who hast manifested thy
might among the peoples.
15 Thou didst with thy arm redeem thy people, the sons of Jacob
and Joseph. [Selah]

16 When the waters saw thee, O God, when the waters saw thee,
they were afraid, yea, the deep trembled.
17 The clouds poured out water; the skies gave forth thunder;
thy arrows flashed on every side.
18 The crash of thy thunder was in the whirlwind; thy lightnings
lighted up the world; the earth trembled and shook.
19 Thy way was through the sea, thy path through the great waters;
yet thy footprints were unseen.
20 Thou didst lead thy people like a flock by the hand of Moses
and Aaron.

Isaiah calls us all to come freely to God for healing and hope
and fullness of life,

"Ho, every one who thirsts, come to
the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come,
buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you
spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor
for that which does not satisfy? Hearken diligently to me, and
eat what is good, and delight yourselves in fatness. Incline
your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and
I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure
love for David. Behold, I made him a witness to the peoples,
a leader and commander for the peoples. Behold, you shall call
nations that you know not, and nations that knew you not shall
run to you, because of the LORD your God, and of the Holy One
of Israel, for he has glorified you.

'Seek the LORD while he may be found, call
upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and
the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD,
that he may have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly
pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your
ways my ways, says the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than
the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts
than your thoughts. 'For as the rain and the snow come down from
heaven, and return not thither but water the earth, making it
bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to
the eater, so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that
which I purpose, and prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

For you shall go out in joy, and be led
forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall
break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall
clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;
instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle; and it shall be
to the LORD for a memorial, for an everlasting sign which shall
not be cut off.'" (Isaiah 55)

An Addendum

Tsunami and Repentance

January 5, 2005 Ñ Fresh Words Edition

By John Piper

From pulpits to news programs, from the New York Times to the Wall Street Journal,
the message of the tsunami was missed. It is a double grief when lives are lost and lessons
are not learned. Every deadly calamity is a merciful call from God for the living to repent.
"Weep with those who weep," the Bible says. Yes, but let us also weep for our own rebellion
against the living God. Lesson one: weep for the dead. Lesson two: weep for yourselves.

Every deadly calamity is a merciful call from God for the living to repent. That was Jesus'
stunning statement to those who brought him news of calamity. The tower of Siloam had fallen,
and 18 people were crushed. What about this, Jesus? they asked. He answered,
"Do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No,
I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish" (Luke 13:4-5).

The point of every deadly calamity is this: Repent. Let our hearts be broken that God means
so little to us. Grieve that he is a whipping boy to be blamed for pain, but not praised for
pleasure. Lament that he makes headlines only when man mocks his power, but no headlines for
ten thousand days of wrath withheld. Let us rend our hearts that we love life more than we love
Jesus Christ. Let us cast ourselves on the mercy of our Maker. He offers it through the death
and resurrection of his Son.

This is the point of all pleasure and all pain. Pleasure says: "God is like this, only better;
don't make an idol out of me. I only point." Pain says: "What sin deserves is like this, only worse;
don't take offense at me. I am a merciful warning."

But the topless sunbathers amid the tsunami aftermath in Phuket, Thailand did not get
the message. Neither did the man who barely escaped the mighty wave with the help of a
jungle gym and palm-leaf roof. He concluded, "I am left with an immense respect for the
power of nature." He missed it. The point is: reverence for the Creator, not respect for creation.

Writing in the New York Times,
David Brooks rightly scorns the celebration of nature's might:
"When Thoreau [celebrates] savage wildness of nature, he sounds, this week, like a boy who has seen a war movie and thinks he has experienced the glory of combat."
But Brooks sees no message in the calamity: "This is a moment to feel deeply bad, for the dead and for those of us who have no explanation."

David Hart, writing in the Wall Street Journal, goes beyond Brooks and pronounces:
"No Christian is licensed to utter odious banalities about God's inscrutable counsels or blasphemous suggestions that all this mysteriously serves God's good ends."

These responses are foreseen in Scripture: "I killed your young men with the sword . . . yet you did not return to me, declares the Lord" (Amos 4:10).
"They cursed the name of God who had power over these plagues. They did not repent and give him glory" (Revelation 16:9).

Contrary to Hart's pronouncement, the Christian Scriptures do indeed license us to speak of God's
"inscrutable counsels" and how he works in all things for mysterious good ends. To call this banal and blasphemous is like a bird calling the wind under its wing wicked.

Jesus said that the minutest event in nature is under the control of God. "Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?
And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father" (Matthew 10:29). He said this to give hope to those who would be killed for his name.

He himself stood on the sea and stopped the waves with a single word (Mark 4:39). Even if Nature or Satan unleashed the deadly tidal wave,
one word from Jesus would have stopped it. He did not speak it. This means there is design in this suffering. And all his designs are wise and just and good.